Across the pond

As regular readers know, I get to travel from time to time, for my semi-retirement job. Of course, I always bring my camera with me and depending on how much time I have, I try to have the right lenses available but space and time are always an issue. During the last week of January, I was working in London, UK and I was able to go over to The Netherlands to spend the weekend with my cousins. I have never been to The Netherlands in the winter so getting images of tulips was out of the question even though my gracious hosts had tulips and narcissus growing in their house. There was snow on the ground throughout the region I was visiting so I thought a windmill in the snow would be a great image. Even though there are 1150 windmills throughout the country, there are 2 locations where a visitor can see multiple windmills at once, Zaanse Schans and Kinderdijk. These images are from Zaanse Schans where there are six windmills, two oil mills, a mustard mill, a paint mill and two saw mills. There used to be 1000 industrial windmills along the banks of the river Zaan which were built after 1574. Even though the lighting for great images was not available, you can still get an idea of what area is like, particularly in the winter. There is more information on Zaanse Schans by clicking here.

I normally have smaller images on my website but for this post, large images make a better impact. Click the images to see a larger version.

Closest mill is De Gekroonde Poelenburg (“the crowned poelenburg”) with De Kat (“the cat”) to the right.

The mills names from left to right: De Zoeker (“the seeker”), De Kat (“the cat”), De Gekroonde Poelenburg (“the crowned poelenburg”) and De Huisman (“the houseman”)

My father was the eldest of nine children, all born and raised in Huissen which is near Arnhem. The above photograph shows the Stinnissen family home as we saw it back in May 2009. One of my Dad’s brothers has always lived in the home but he passed away almost 1 year ago and now it patiently awaits a new family to create memories within its walls.

During this last trip to Huissen, I had my last visit to what we affectionately refer to as the ‘Hoge Woerd’.

One evening, I ate supper at the Swan Bar & Chophouse which is part of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre . I couldn’t help but notice the elaborate decor within the restaurant, especially this candle dripping wax on the books at its base.

St. Paul’s Cathedral sits majestically in the City of London and it is impossible to ignore. During the evening its grand dome is lit for all to see. I tried some photographic experiments making due with limited lighting, no tripod and high winds.

St. Paul’s with the London Millennium Footbridge in the foreground.

The London Millennium Footbridge is popular with residents, tourists and joggers alike.

2 Comments

Great post Arni. It was nice to see your homestead and the first windmill shot is terrific. I’ve seen many shots similar but none with snow and that makes it really special. I hope you have more for us!